Due to a better-than-expected return of B-Index summer steelhead and low cumulative impacts to wild ESA-listed fish, Oregon and Washington fishery managers are easing steelhead regulations for the ongoing fishery in the mainstem Columbia River above The Dalles Dam.  Beginning Sunday until the end of the year, anglers may retain up to one hatchery steelhead within the two-fish daily adult bag limit in the mainstem Columbia River from The Dalles Dam upstream to the Highway 395 Bridge near Pasco.  This regulation change will provide some late fall steelhead retention opportunity for anglers upstream of The Dalles Dam for the first time since 2017.  The change also applies to the lower John Day River downstream of Tumwater Falls where one hatchery steelhead per day may be retained from Sunday through the end of the year.  The B-Index run is doing better than expected with the return now projected at 32,300 fish, compared to the preseason expectation of 9,600 fish.  Winter steelhead retention was already scheduled to reopen from the mouth of the Columbia upstream to The Dalles Dam on Sunday.